Chapter 8

About the same time with Origen lived St Cyprian, bishop ofCarthage. He was born about the year 200, and had been long famousas a professor of heathen learning, when he was converted at the ageof forty-five. He then gave up his calling as a teacher, and, likethe first Christians at Jerusalem (Acts iv. 34f), he sold a finehouse and gardens, which he had near the town, and gave the price,with a large part of his other money, to the poor. He became one ofthe clergy of Carthage, and when the bishop died, about three yearsafter, Cyprian was so much loved and respected that he was chosen inhis place (AD 248).

Cyprian tried with all his power to do the duties of a goodbishop, and to get rid of many wrong things which had grown upon hisChurch during the long peace which it had enjoyed. But about twoyears after he was made bishop the persecution under Decius brokeout, when, as was said in the last chapter, the persecutors triedespecially to strike at the bishops and clergy, and to force them todeny their faith. Now Cyprian would have been ready and glad to die,if it would have served the good of his people; but he rememberedhow our Lord had said, "When they persecute you in this city, fleeye into another" (St. Matt. x. 23), and how He Himself withdrew fromthe rage of His enemies, because His "hour was not yet come" (St.John viii. 20, 59; xi. 54). And it seemed to the good bishop, thatfor the present it would be best to go out of the way of hispersecutors. But he kept a constant watch over all that was done inhis church, and he often wrote to his clergy and people from theplace where he was hidden.

But in the meanwhile, things went on badly at Carthage. Many had called themselves Christians in the late quiet times who would nothave done so if there had been any danger about it. And now, whenthe danger came, numbers of them ran into the market-place atCarthage, and seemed quite eager to offer sacrifice to the gods ofthe heathen. Others, who did not sacrifice, bribed some officers ofthe Government to give them tickets, certifying that they hadsacrificed; and yet they contrived to persuade themselves that theyhad done nothing wrong by their cowardice and deceit! There were,too, some mischievous men among the clergy, who had not wishedCyprian to be bishop, and had borne him a grudge ever since he waschosen. And now these clergymen set on the people who had lapsed (orfallen) in the persecution, to demand that they should be taken backinto the Church, and to say that some martyrs had given them letterswhich entitled them to be admitted at once.

In those days it was usual, when any Christian was known to havebeen guilty of a heavy sin, that (as is said in our ComminationService), he should be "put to open penance" by the Church; that is,that he should be required to show his repentance publicly. Personswho were in this state were not allowed to receive the holysacrament of the Lord's Supper, as all other Christians then didvery often. The worst sinners were obliged to stand outside thechurch door, where they begged those who were going in to pray thattheir sins might be forgiven, and those of the penitents who werelet into the church had places in it separate from other Christians.Sometimes penance lasted for years; and always until the penitentshad done enough to prove that they were truly grieved for theirsins, so that the clergy might hope that they were received to God'smercy for their Redeemer's sake. But as it was counted a great andglorious thing to die for the truth of Christ, and martyrs werehighly honoured in the Church, penitents had been in the habit ofgoing to them while they were in prison awaiting death, and ofentreating the martyrs to plead with the Church for the shorteningof the appointed penance. And it had been usual, out of regard for the holy martyrs, to forgive those to whom they had given lettersdesiring that the penitents might be gently treated. But now thesepeople at Carthage, instead of showing themselves humble, as truepenitents would have been, came forward in an insolent manner, as ifthey had a right to claim that they might be restored to the Church;and the martyrs' letters (or rather what they called martyrs'letters) were used in a way very different from anything that hadever been allowed. Cyprian had a great deal of trouble with them;but he dealt wisely in the matter, and at length had the comfort ofsettling it. But, as people are always ready to find fault in oneway or another, some blamed him for being too strict with thelapsed, and others for being too easy; and each of these partieswent so far as to set up a bishop of its own against him. After atime, however, he got the better of these enemies, although thestraiter sect (who were called Novatianists, after Novatian, apresbyter of Rome) lasted for three hundred years or more.

PART II (AD 253-257)

Shortly after the end of the persecution, a terrible plague passedthrough the empire, and carried off vast numbers of people. Many ofthe heathen thought that the plague was sent by their gods to punishthem for allowing the Christians to live; and the mobs of townsbroke out against the Christians, killing some of them, and hurtingthem in other ways.

But instead of returning evil for evil, the Christians showed what aspirit of love they had learnt from their Lord and Master; and therewas no place where this was more remarkably shown than at Carthage.The heathen there were so terrified by the plague that they seemedto have lost all natural feeling, and almost to be out of theirsenses. When their friends fell sick, they left them to die withoutany care; when they were dead, they cast out their bodies into thestreet, and the corpses which lay about unburied were not only shocking to look at, but made the air unwholesome, so that there wasmuch more danger of the plague than before. But while the heathenwere behaving in this way, and each of them thought only of himself,Cyprian called the Christians of Carthage together, and told themthat they were bound to do very differently. "It would be nowonder," he said, "if we were to attend to our own friends; butChrist our Lord charges us to do good to heathens and publicansalso, and to love our enemies. He prayed for them that persecutedHim, and if we are His disciples, we ought to do so too." And thenthe good bishop went on to tell his people what part each of themshould take in the charitable work. Those who had money were to giveit, and were to do such acts of kindness as they could besides. Thepoor, who had no silver or gold to spare, were to give their labourin a spirit of love. So all classes set to their tasks gladly, andthey nursed the sick and buried the dead, without asking whetherthey were Christian or heathens.

When the heathens saw these acts of love, many of them were broughtto wonder what it could be that made the Christians do them, and howthey came to be so kind to poor and old people, to widows, andorphans, and slaves; and how it was that they were always ready toraise money for buying the freedom of captives, or for helping theirbrethren who were in any kind of trouble. And from wondering andasking what it was that led Christians to do such things, which theythemselves would never have thought of doing, many of the heathenwere brought to see that the Gospel was the true religion, and theyforsook their idols to follow Christ.

After this, Cyprian had a disagreement with Stephen bishop of Rome.Rome was the greatest city in the whole world, and the capital ofthe empire. There were many Christians there even in the time of theApostles, and, as years went on, the Church of Rome grew more andmore, so that it was the greatest, and richest, and most importantchurch of all. Now the bishops who were at the head of this great church were naturally reckoned the foremost of all bishops, and hadmore power than any other, so that if a proud man got the bishopricof Rome, it was too likely that he might try to set himself up abovehis brethren, and to lay down the law to them. Stephen was,unhappily, a man of this kind, and he gave way to the temptation,and tried to lord it over other bishops and their churches. ButCyprian held out against him, and made him understand that thebishop of Rome had no right to give laws to other bishops, or tomeddle with the churches of other countries. He showed that,although St. Peter (from whom Stephen pretended that the bishops ofRome had received power over others) was the first of the Apostles,he was not of a higher class or order than the rest; and, therefore,that, although the Roman bishops stood first, the other bishops weretheir equals, and had received an equal share in the Christianministry. So Stephen was not able to get the power which he wishedfor over other churches, and, after his death, Carthage and Romewere at peace again.

PART III (AD 257-258)

About six years after the death of the Emperor Decius, a freshpersecution arose under another emperor, named Valerian (AD 257).He began by ordering that the Christians should not be allowed tomeet for worship, and that the bishops and clergy should beseparated from their flocks. Cyprian was carried before the governorof Africa, and, on being questioned by him, he said. "I am aChristian and a bishop. I know no other gods but the one true God,who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them. It isthis God that we Christians serve; to Him we pray day and night, forourselves and all mankind, and for the welfare of the emperorsthemselves." The governor asked him about his clergy. "Our laws,"said Cyprian, forbid them to throw themselves in your way, and I maynot inform against them; but if they be sought after, they will befound, each at his post." The governor said that no Christians must meet for worship under pain of death; and he sentenced Cyprian to bebanished to a place called Curubis, about forty miles from Carthage.It was a pleasant abode, and Cyprian lived there a year, duringwhich time he was often visited by his friends, and wrote manyletters of advice and comfort to his brethren. And, as many of thesewere worse treated than himself, by being carried off into savageplaces, or set to work underground in mines, he did all that hecould to relieve their distress, by sending them money and otherpresents.

At the end of the year, the bishop was carried back to Carthage,where a new governor had just arrived. The emperor had found thathis first law against the Christians was of little use; so he nowmade a second law, which was much more severe. It ordered thatbishops and clergy should be put to death; that such Christians aswere persons of worldly rank should lose all that they had, and bebanished or killed; but it said nothing about the poorer Christians,who do not seem to have been in any danger. Cyprian thought that histime was now come; and when his friends entreated him to savehimself by flight, he refused. He was carried off to the governor'scountry house, about six miles from Carthage, where he was treatedwith much respect, and was allowed to have some friends with him atsupper. Great numbers of his people, on hearing that he was seized,went from Carthage to the place where he was, and watched all nightoutside the house in fear lest their bishop should be put to death,or carried off into banishment without their knowledge. Next morningCyprian was led to the place of judgment, which was a little wayfrom the governor's palace. He was heated with the walk, under aburning sun; and, as he was waiting for the governor's arrival, asoldier of the guard, who had once been a Christian, kindly offeredhim some change of clothes. "Why," said the bishop, "should wetrouble ourselves to remedy evils which will probably come to an endto-day?"

The governor took his seat, and required Cyprian to sacrifice to the gods. He refused; and the governor then desired him to consider hissafety. "In so righteous a cause," answered the bishop, "there is noneed of consideration;" and, on hearing the sentence, whichcondemned him to be beheaded, he exclaimed, "Praise be to God!" Acry arose from the Christians, "Let us go and be beheaded with him!"He was then led by soldiers to the place of execution. Many of hispeople climbed up into the trees which surrounded it, that theymight see the last of their good bishop. After having prayed, hetook off his upper clothing; he gave some money to the executioner,and as it was necessary that he should be blindfolded beforesuffering, he tied the bandage over his own eyes. Two of his friendsthen bound his hands, and the Christians placed cloths andhandkerchiefs around him, that they night catch some of his blood.And thus St. Cyprian was martyred, in the year 258.

Valerian's attempts against the Gospel were all in vain. The Churchhad been purified and strengthened by the persecution under Decius,so that there were now very few who fell away for fear of death.The faith was spread by the banished bishops, in the same way as ithad been in the last persecution (see page 25); and, as has everbeen found, "the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the Church."